Brazil in the running for best foreign film at Academy Awards

“The Second Mother” (Que horas ela volta?), directed by Anna Muylaert, is Brazil's pick for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2016 Academy Awards. The announcement was given Thursday (Sep. 10) by the Ministry of Culture, after the choice was made by a specially created commission in Rio de Janeiro.

The feature competed with seven other productions and will now be rated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in the US, which will pick nine foreign movies. After that, five nominees will make it to the final stage. The winner will be announced during the broadcast of the Oscars, in Hollywood, California.

The film centers around the troubled personal connections in a high-middle class home in the city of São Paulo, after the maid's daughter arrives to take college entrance exams in the city. Acclaimed by the public, the feature was produced with funds from Brazil's National Film Agency and won the main award at the  Panorama section, during the 65th Berlin Festival, in February.

The main actress, Regina Casé, also won the Jury's Special Award at the Sundance Film Festival, in the US, for her acting performance. She shared the prize with actress Camila Márdila, who plays the role of her daughter in the feature.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira